Remanded steel mill fatality case headed to judge for further review

The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission remanded a case involving a 2011 fatality at a steel mill to the chief administrative law judge for further proceedings after a federal appeals court upheld a safety citation against the employer in July.

James Eddie Lanier Jr., an apprentice at Smyrna, Georgia-based Action Electric Co., was killed when a counterweight that had not been properly locked out fell on him from an energized position, according to court records in Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor v. Action Electric Co. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a serious violation to the company following the incident.

An administrative law judge reviewing the case vacated the citation, and OSHRC adopted the ALJ’s decision as its final order when it could not reach a unanimous decision about the citation. The Department of Labor appealed the decision to the 11th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, where a three-judge panel vacated the commission’s ruling and remanded the case to the commission to reinstate the citation against Action Electric.

The case was formally remanded to the commission in September, and a three-judge panel of the commission remanded the case to the chief administrative law judge Thursday for assignment and further proceedings consistent with the court’s opinion.

Representatives of Action Electric were not immediately available to comment.